1972 in professional wrestling

Professional wrestling-related events during the year of 1972

Overview of the events of 1972 in professional wrestling

List of years in professional wrestling

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1972 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

## List of notable promotions

[edit]

These promotions held notable shows in 1972.

Promotion Name  | Abbreviation

|

Big Time Wrestling | BTW
Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre | EMLL
National Wrestling Alliance | NWA
National Wrestling Federation | NWF
World Wide Wrestling Federation | WWWF

## Calendar of notable shows

[edit]

Date  | Promotion(s)  | Event  | Location  | Main Event

|
|
|
|

April 21  | EMLL | 16\. Aniversario de Arena México | Mexico City, Mexico | Ray Mendoza defeated David Morgan (c) in a singles match for the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship[1]
June 24  | BTW | Parade of Champions | Irving, Texas | Dory Funk Jr. (c) wrestled Fritz Von Erich to a time-limit draw in a singles match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship
August 12  | NWA/NWF | Superbowl of Wrestling | Cleveland, Ohio | Johnny Powers (c) defeated Johnny Valentine in a singles match for the NWF North American Championship
September 29  | EMLL | EMLL 39th Anniversary Show (1) | Mexico City, Mexico | El Solitario and Ray Mendoza defeated Rene Guajardo and Alfonso Dantés in the finals of a tag team tournament[2][3]
September 30  | WWWF | Showdown at Shea | Flushing, New York | Pedro Morales (c) fought Bruno Sammartino to a curfew draw in a singles match for the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship[4]
October 20  | EMLL | EMLL 39th Anniversary Show (2) | Mexico City, Mexico | Alfonso Dantés (c) defeated El Solitario in a best two-out-of-three falls match for the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship[3]
December 8  | EMLL | Juicio Final | Mexico City, Mexico | El Solitario defeated Ángel Blanco in a best two-out-of-three falls Lucha de Apuestas, mask Vs. mask match[5]
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

## Notable events

[edit]

* January 12 – Antonio Inoki created New Japan Pro-Wrestling
* July 1 – The Fabulous Moolah and Vicky Williams became the first female wrestlers to wrestle at Madison Square Garden, which had previously banned women from wrestling in the hallowed venue.[6]
* October 21 Giant Baba created All Japan Pro Wrestling
* Sports Review Wrestling hit the newsstands with its first issue.

## Awards and honors

[edit]

1972 PWI Wrestler of the Year, Pedro Morales

### Pro Wrestling Illustrated

[edit]

Main article: List of Pro Wrestling Illustrated awards

Category  | Winner

|

PWI Wrestler of the Year | Pedro Morales
PWI Tag Team of the Year | Dick the Bruiser and The Crusher
PWI Match of the Year | Bruno Sammartino wins Battle Royal in Los Angeles
PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year | Jack Brisco / Fred Curry
PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year | The Sheik
PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year | Lord Alfred Hayes
PWI Rookie of the Year | Mike Graham
PWI Woman of the Year | Marie LaVerne
PWI Midget Wrestler of the Year | Little Bruiser
PWI Manager of the Year | Bobby Heenan

## Championship changes

[edit]

### EMLL

[edit]

NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship

incoming champion – El Solitario[7]

Date  | Winner  | Event/Show  | Note(s)
March 17  | David Morgan  | EMLL show  | [7]
April 21  | Ray Mendoza | EMLL show  | [7]
June 13  | Alfonso Dantés | EMLL show  | [7]

NWA World Middleweight Championship

Incoming champion – Aníbal
No title changes

NWA World Welterweight Championship

Incoming champion – Alberto Munoz
No title changes

Mexican National Heavyweight Championship

Incoming champion – Raul Reyes
Date  | Winner  | Event/Show  | Note(s)
April 7  | Angel Blanco | EMLL show  |

Mexican National Middleweight Championship

Incoming champion – Ciclon Veloz, Jr.
No title changes

Mexican National Lightweight Championship

Incoming champion – Estrella Blanca
No title changes

Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship

Incoming champion – Raul Mata[8]
Date  | Winner  | Event/Show  | Note(s)
June 18  | Enrique Vera  | EMLL show  |

Mexican National Welterweight Championship

Incoming champion – Huracan Ramirez
Date  | Winner  | Event/Show  | Note(s)
October 20  | Karloff Lagarde | EMLL show  |

Mexican National Women's Championship

Incoming champion – Uncertain
No title changes

### NWA

[edit]

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship

Incoming champion – Dory Funk, Jr.
No title changes

## Tournaments

[edit]

### IWE

[edit]

Accomplishment  | Winner  | Date won  | Notes

|
|
|

IWA World Series | Strong Kobayashi | May 6  |

## Births

[edit]

Dwayne Johnson

* January 8 - Jon Andersen
* January 10 – Brian Christopher(died in 2018) [1]
* January 19 – Ron Killings
* January 20 - Tony DeVito
* January 24 - Fabián el Gitano (died in 2011)
* February 1 - Sean Casey
* February 8 – Big Show
* February 19 – Francine
* February 23 - Tomoko Watanabe
* February 28 - Angel Medina
* March 1 - Último Guerrero
* March 6 - Shaquille O'Neal
* March 7 - Major Gunns
* March 12 – Nunzio
* March 21 – Chris Candido (died in 2005)
* March 23 - Octagoncito (AAA)
* March 27 – Charlie Haas
* April 1 - Darren McCarty
* April 11:
* Balls Mahoney (died in 2016) [2]
* Kevin Quinn
* Fyre
* April 14 - Julio Dinero
* April 21 - Dr. Cerebro
* April 28 - Violent J
* April 29 - Masahito Kakihara
* May 2 – Dwayne Johnson[9]
* May 4 - Ray González
* May 17 - Masakazu Fukuda (died in 2000)
* May 25 – Shigeo Okumura
* June 2 - Gary Williams
* June 5 - Mike Bucci
* June 12 - Jack Doan
* June 28:
* Jon Heidenreich
* Daniel Gracie
* June 29 – Canyon Ceman
* June 30 - Wolf (died in 2011)
* July 5 - Tatsuhito Takaiwa
* July 13 – X-Pac[10]
* July 21 - Shinjiro Otani
* August 1 – D-Von Dudley[11][12]
* August 5 - Ikuto Hidaka
* August 19 - Sign Guy Dudley
* August 25 - David Young
* August 27:
* The Great Khali
* Jazz
* September 1 - Doug Williams
* September 3 - Bob Evans
* September 5 - Shane Sewell
* September 15 -
* Lady Victoria
* Chad Austin
* September 17 – Phantasio
* September 26 - Gabe Sapolsky
* October 4 - Otto Schwanz
* October 12 - Karen Jarrett
* October 16 - Lizmark Jr.
* October 23 - Jasmin St. Claire
* November 7 - Chip Fairway (died in 2011)
* November 14 – Albert[13]
* November 29 - Minoru Tanaka
* November 30 - Ruffy Silverstein (Canadian wrestler)
* December 6 – El Oriental
* December 7 – Tammy Lynn Sytch[14]
* December 20 - Takeshi Rikio
* December 31 - Ryan Sakoda (d. 2021)

## Debuts

[edit]

* February 1, 1972 – El Texano[15]
* March 13, 1972 – Rick Martel[16]
* March 16, 1972 – Gran Hamada[16]
* March 20, 1972 – Mr. Pogo[16]
* May 22, 1972 – Moondog King[16]
* August 2, 1972 – Kengo Kimura[16]
* August 23, 1972 - Bob Orton Jr.[16]
* September – Jaque Mate[16]
* September 1, 1972 – Larry Zbyszko[16]
* September 19, 1972 - Don Arakawa
* September 26, 1972 -Masanobu Kurisu
* November 12, 1972 – Yoshiaki Fujiwara[15]
* December 1, 1972 – Bruce Hart[16]
* December 3, 1972 – Kuniaki Kobayashi[16]
* December 10, 1972 – Ric Flair[16]
* December 28, 1972 – Jim Brunzell[16]
* Debut date uncertain
* Al Madril[16]
* Austin Idol[16]
* Ax[16]
* Big John Studd[16]
* Bobby Jaggers[16]
* Buck Zumhofe
* El Canek[16]
* Clem Turner[16]
* Dutch Mantell[16]
* Colonel DeBeers[16]
* George Wells[16]
* The Iron Sheik[16]
* Ken Patera[16]
* Mike Graham[16]
* Pez Whatley[16]
* Pierre Lefebvre[16]
* Scott Casey[15]
* Sgt. Slaughter[15]
* Smith Hart[15]
* Steve Keirn[15]
* Máquina Salvaje (Mexico)

## Retirements

[edit]

* Johnny Barend (1949 – 1972)
* Angelo Savoldi (1937 – 1972)

## Deaths

[edit]

* January 2 - Jatindra Charan Guho, 79
* February 21 – Luther Lindsay 47
* April 9 - Firpo Zbyszko, 55
* August 1 – Ray Gunkel 48
* September 15 - Billy Sandow, 88
* October 7 - Whitey Caldwell 37

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Lucha 2000 Staff (April 2006). "Arena México: 50 anos de Lucha Libre". Lucha 2000 (in Spanish). Especial 28.`{{cite news}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
2. ^ "39th Anniversary Show #1". Pro Wrestling History. September 29, 1972. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
3. ^ a b "Historia de Los Aniversarios del CMLL". The Gladiatores Magazine (in Spanish). September 2, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
4. ^ Cawthon, Graham (2013). The History of Professional Wrestling: The Results WWF 1963–1989. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. p. 135\. ISBN 978-1-4928-2597-5.
5. ^ "Lucha Libre: Conoce la historia de las leyendas de cuadrilátero". Solitario (1946–1986) (in Spanish). Mexico. 2008. p. 57\. Grandes Figuras de la Lucha Libre.
6. ^ Ginzburg, Evan (2020-03-31). "The Fabulous Moolah at Madison Square Garden in the 1970s - ProWrestlingPost.com". prowrestlingpost.com. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
7. ^ a b c d Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2006). "Mexico: EMLL NWA World Light Heavyweight Title [Lutteroth]". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. p. 389\. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
8. ^ Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: National Lightweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications. p. 393\. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
9. ^ "Dwayne Johnson Biography: Film Actor, Athlete (1972–)". Biography.com (FYI / A&E Networks). Retrieved December 12, 2017.
10. ^ "Sean Waltman Bio". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
11. ^ "Online World of Wrestling profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
12. ^ Intelius search
13. ^ "OWOW profile". Onlineworldofwrestling.com. Archived from the original on September 7, 2011. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
14. ^ "OWOW profile".
15. ^ a b c d e f "Debuts in 1972 #50-62". Wrestling Data. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa "Debuts in 1972 #1-50". Wrestling Data. Retrieved January 26, 2020.

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